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CNET News Video

Apple's huge password bug in Macs can be fixed

A massive security hole in the latest MacOS High Sierra lets anyone log in without a password. There is a way to fix it yourself.

1:05 / 30 November 2017

Transcript

The latest version of Apple's MacOS has a glaring security hole.
You can log into a Mac computer without a password.
Just type root into the username field and leave the password blank.
Oops.
Apple says they are working on fixing the problem which in terms of security mistakes you could say this is a doozy.
The issue got public attention after a tweet by this software developer alerting Apple Support to the problem.
But in a blogpost he says he wasn't the first to discover it.
The issue was also mentioned in a few places prior to his tweet, including an Apple developer forum.
CNet independently confirmed that you do not need a password to log into a locked Apple device with this root trick.
It could work on the first try or you may need to click on lock a couple of times.
another security researcher tweeted a demonstration that it even worked after restarting the computer.
Now until Apple fixes the problem there are a few ways you can fix it.
One way is that you can make an account with the username root and just give it a password.
How do you feel about Apple's mistake?
Let us know in the comments.
I'm Bridget Carey and you can find the latest on this Apple security flaw at CNET.com

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